Slow Down Watch For Kids

Waunakee Police Department, in partnership with Safe Communities, is conducting a Slow Down Yard Sign Campaign.

As part of this campaign, yard signs will pop up in yards across Waunakee reminding motorists to "Slow Down", Watch for Kids."

We all need to slow down when children are present, because the faster vehicles travel, the more likely crashes are to occur and the more severe injuries will be. Children are especially vulnerable due to their smaller stature.

If a child pedestrian is hit by a car traveling at 20 miles per hour, 5% are killed, most injuries are slight, and 30% suffer no injuries at all. At 30 miles per hour, 45% are killed and many are injured. At 40 miles per hour, 85% are killed.

According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14. Each year in the United States, nearly 900 children ages 14 and under die from pedestrian injuries another 24,000 are injured in traffic-related crashes.

When child pedestrians are hit by cars, it's usually as they dart out between cars mid-block. Please drive slowly and be on the lookout for kids!